Warnings From a Flabby Mouse

[n2doc]

The only difference between these mice: The one at the top was exposed at birth to a tiny amount of an endocrine-disrupting chemical.

By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
Published: January 19, 2013

ONE of the puzzles of the modern world is why we humans are growing so tubby. Maybe these two mice offer a clue.

They’re genetically the same, raised in the same lab and given the same food and chance to exercise. Yet the bottom one is svelte, while the other looks like, well, an American.

The only difference is that the top one was exposed at birth to just one part per billion of an endocrine-disrupting chemical. The brief exposure programmed the mouse to put on fat, and although there were no significant differences in caloric intake or expenditure, it continued to put on flab long after the chemical was gone.

That experiment is one of a growing number of peer-reviewed scientific studies suggesting that one factor in the industrialized world’s obesity epidemic (along with Twinkies, soda and television) may be endocrine-disrupting chemicals. These chemicals are largely unregulated — they are in food, couches, machine receipts and shampoos — and a raft of new studies suggest that they can lead to the formation of more and larger fat cells.

more

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/20/opinion/sunday/kristof-warnings-from-a-flabby-mouse.html?_r=0

[Duer 157099]

1. And the study they refer to was published in 2005

and we've done what about it so far exactly?

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/bdra.20147/abstract;jsessionid=42DBC52C656825606221EC12192BFAF7.d01t01

[athena]

2. This study proves that obesity is not about calories and exercise.

Last edited Mon Jan 21, 2013, 05:30 PM - Edit history (1)

People love to pretend otherwise, perhaps because they don't want to feel powerless. So many books have been written arguing that the French are thinner than Americans because they walk more and eat smaller portions. What is almost always ignored is that Europe regulates chemicals much more strictly than does the U.S.

Endocrine disruptors are not just about obesity; they may be at the root of many other conditions such as autism and infertility. How many people realize that sales receipts are coated with a type of plastic that contains BPA? How many parents are aware that many baby shampoos and lotions contain phthalates? Instead of seeing the real danger, people choose to focus on vaccines, which are not only essential for public health but have been shown time and again to be safe. Perhaps the reason people are reluctant to face the truth is that while you can avoid vaccinating your children, there appears to be nothing you can do to prevent them from ingesting BPAs and phthalates, along with thousands of other potentially dangerous chemicals.

There is, however, something you can do, not just for your children but for all future generations. Ask your senators and representatives to pass the Safe Chemicals Act.

See also:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/24/safe-chemicals-act-flame-retardants_n_1699384.html

Ninety-nine percent of pregnant American woman carry multiple manmade chemicals in their bodies, sharing that concoction through the umbilical cord. More than 80,000 chemicals permitted for use in the U.S. have never been fully tested for toxicity to humans, let alone children or fetuses. And 26 years have passed since U.S. lawmakers made any significant updates to the country's regulation of toxic chemicals.

(snip)

"I would bet if we went outside and asked anyone walking by if they thought that chemical companies have to do tests and prove a chemical is safe before it is used, they would say, 'Of course,'" Boxer said during the hearing. "Under the law currently, the EPA has to prove it is unsafe."

As Boxer and other speakers noted, this outdated regulatory framework differs significantly from laws in the European Union, where chemicals including flame retardants must be tested and proven safe before they are placed on store shelves. Studies have found that far more chemical pollutants -- implicated in everything from obesity and infertility, to autism and asthma -- course through the blood of Americans than Europeans.